when it says crowd level is 8

[chessie]

What kind of wait times are associated when crowd level is at 8? If one gets there at rope drop, what would you think the level would be? I have never been to Disney during high season so just trying wrap my brain around what to expect

[bauer1168]

Originally Posted by chessie

What kind of wait times are associated when crowd level is at 8? If one gets there at rope drop, what would you think the level would be? I have never been to Disney during high season so just trying wrap my brain around what to expect

I think level 8 and above are for the peak times such as July/August/Thanksgiving/Christmas.
If you can be at the turnstiles at the park of your choice early, the first hour should be fine, especially at MK were people will be heading in all different directions. MK had a level 1 closing (I think, I might be wrong) on Christmas Day. However, people here on the dis who were there at RD said they had a lot of success within the first hour or two.
The higher the crowd level, or the busier the period, the parks will usually have longer hours of operation.
If, for example, MK opens at 7am, you can have a lot of success touring the park early on and get the most popular rides done. I've only been to MK once at a 7am opening (granted 7-8am was an EMH and just after thanksgiving) but it was sooooo quiet until around 10/11am.
Hope this helps!

[bauer1168]

As far as waits go, from around 10/11am onwards you can expect long waits.
Toy Story would be most likely 2 hours plus, as would Soarin' and TT. ETWB would easily be 90mins plus as would probably PP.

[Cinderumbrella]

Hit the headliners at park opening (getting FP when you can) and you will be amazed how much you can get done in the first 2 hours. In the summer months there are tons of folks who don't mosey into the parks until after 10 am. While they are waiting in a 90 minute Space Mountain line, you can be doing the lesser rides with a much smaller wait (ie PotC, Small World, Mission Space, Great Movie Ride etc).

I also highly recommend using a touring plans site and sticking with their "best" park when crowd levels get that high. It really makes a huge difference!

[IllinoisMommy]

We were there Christmas week 2012- and you can't get a busier week than that! I honestly did not think it was that bad- here was our strategy:
We stayed offsite to save $$, so we could not take advantage of EMH hours. As much as possible, went to a park that did not have EMH so we could arrive when everyone else did (and I have heard that EMH parks can be a little more crowded). I think the crowd level was 8-9 each day (we used a touring plan- undercovertourist- to help decide what park to hit each day). Arrived at RD daily, which was a must. Rode on major rides and grabbed fastpasses before the crowds began to grow at around 10:30am. Saved shows and less popular rides/attractions for late morning/afternoon. The longest we waited was probably about 40 minutes- for Spaceship Earth around lunchtime and TSM about 9:00am (should have hit that before Tot and Rock-n-RollerCoaster). Also- avoid eating CS meals between the hours of 12-1:30pm.

It was not unusual to see 2 hour waits on rides in the afternoon (and over 3 hours one day for Space Mt as it was down for awhile earlier in the day). But since we did those rides first thing, we never had to wait in those terrible lines. If you go at RD you will get tons done before crowds grow. Have a fun trip

[FortForever]

The busiest I have ever experienced is a 7. If I had to do it again, I would most definitely be at rope drop.

By early afternoon, waits for all the popular rides exceeded two hours. The ones that had any fastpasses left at all were for very late - 9:30 - 10:30 pm.

Even on our most recent visit, with crowds at level 4, afternoon waits for Space Mountain and Soarin' were posted two hours. We boarded SM much faster in reality, but by the time we got to Epcot that day we really waited over two overs for Soarin'. I will never do that again.

By far, the most important thing you can do is be at rope drop. Afternoons with an 8 crowd are best used for shows and less popular rides.

[jazzedancr]

If the crowd level is at a 8 your probably looking at 1.5 -2 hrs for the major attractions and 45min-1hr for others..So if your going on a day where its at a 8 I would def. get fast passes and well as staying for extra magic hours since the parks die down around that time!

[2goofykiddos]

I would never have gone at an 8 before this year. We went between Christmas and NYE and the parks reached capacity almost everyday. The thing is...it always seems busy to me so this wasn't too much worse. We did RD and then relaxed in the afternoon. We rode everything we wanted more than once. Now we are heading back for Spring Break and 8s, I think it will be fine.